A pub with God's cheer?(ABC
News) July 23 - There are suggestions the Anglican diocese of Bathurst's financial
problems may open up new worshipping opportunities in locations such as pubs
and houses in western New South Wales.

CATHOLIC
CHURCH

Piety and faith put to
good use at school(Sydney Morning Herald) July 26 – The Very Reverend Dom Philip Jebb was a charismatic headmaster of
Downside School during the 1980s, when the spirit of student rebellion ran
strong and the school threatened to become ungovernable.

INTERNATIONAL
STORIES

Pope Francis meets
Sudanese woman sentenced to death(Sydney Morning Herald) July 25 - Rome: Pope Francis met privately on Thursday with a Sudanese woman
who refused to recant her Christian faith in the face of a death sentence,
blessing the woman as she cradled her infant daughter born just weeks ago in
prison.

French court overturns
ruling ordering halal food in jail (The
West Australian) July 23 - Lyon (AFP) - A French court on Tuesday cancelled a November ruling
ordering a prison to provide halal meals for Muslim prisoners, in the latest
legal battle over an issue that has caused controversy in the secular republic.

A nation in peril - Iraq's
struggle to hold together (The
West Australian) July 27 - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Salman Khaled has already lived through Baghdad's
sectarian disintegration; with Iraq now splintering into Shi'ite, Sunni Arab
and Kurdish regions, he says this time the survival of the country is at stake.

Jihadists seize Syria
army base, behead soldiers (The
West Australian) July 27 - Damascus (AFP) - Islamic State fighters have seized a Syrian army
base in the northern province of Raqa, killing scores of troops and beheading
some of them, a monitoring group said Saturday.

UN envoy warns of
'permanent segregation' in west Myanmar (The West Australian) July 27 - Yangon (AFP) - Myanmar's plans for the future of a western region
torn apart by Buddhist-Muslim unrest could result in "permanent
segregation" of the two religious groups, a UN expert warned Saturday.

Other

Egypt court says 'devil
guided' Peter Greste(Sydney Morning Herald) July 23 - Cairo: The Egyptian court that jailed Australian journalist Peter
Greste and two other Al-Jazeera journalists for alleged ties with Islamists
says "the devil guided" the group to spread false news defaming the
country.

Massachusetts monks tap
brewing tradition to support aging members (The West Australian) July 26 - SPENCER, Mass. (Reuters) - Tucked off a two-lane highway in a hilly,
wooded section of central Massachusetts, a group of Roman Catholic monks has
embraced a centuries-old tradition they hope can sustain their aging members in
a world of rapidly rising health costs.

Powerful Philippine
Christian church celebrates 100 years (The West Australian) July 26 - Manila (AFP) - A Philippine Christian church renowned for its
discipline, money and political power will mark its 100th anniversary on Sunday
with more than one million followers expected to join the celebrations.

Also:
Alleged 'jihadist' back
in Melbourne (The Australian)
July 23 - AN Australian with suspected links to Islamist militants in Syria and
Iraq has arrived in Melbourne after being deported from the Philippines.

Are Aboriginal inmates
the next Muslim extremists?(Sydney Morning Herald) July 24 - Australia's spy agency has been enlisted to help crack down on
radicalisation in jails after revelations Aboriginal prisoners are converting
to Islam and risk becoming extremists.

WA hate law 'a failure' (The West Australian) July 24 - Police have confirmed that a Perth-based Islamic preacher will not be
prosecuted for describing Jews and Christians as "filthy rapists",
sparking calls for an urgent review of WA's race hate laws.